Large Fierce Mammal

You may recall from previous scribblings here that …

“In many parts of Europe, the “Feast of Saint Nicholas” is celebrated on December 6th. The evening before the feast, however, is known as Krampus Night or Krampusnacht, when the hairy beast roams the streets in a … rage, visiting homes and businesses to punish and/or terrify the children who were not on their best behavior.” ~ Krampus : The Dark Origins Of Christmas

It being the twenty-fourth day of December, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since Krampusnacht 2015. If you know you deserved a visit, and yet are reading this unscathed, here’s a delightful reminder of the rough justice you escaped. For now.

A Krampus Carol is an animated short film originally intended for airing on the Travel Channel in an episode of Anthony Bourdain‘s series, No Reservations. But as reported in a Gawker piece titled Travel Channel Pulls Touching Christmas Special About Child-Licking Demon,

“… when executives got a look at Bourdain’s take on the Austrian legend of Krampus, they quickly pulled the plug. Apparently, they felt the world was not quite ready for a stop-motion retelling of Santa’s “whip-toting sidekick” who “whips and licks naughty children” with his 12-inch tongue then “carries them off in his sack” — a source tells us they cited sensitivities regarding the Penn State scandal when delivering Bourdain the disappointing news. (The leering portrait of the Pope in the background probably didn’t help matters, either.)”

So now, having fanned the flames of your eagerness to fever pitch, here’s the feature for this Long Winter’s Night.